Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Of the 150m population in Russia all it would take to cause potentially major upheavel is for one of them with ‘one finger’ to pull the trigger of a gun with a bullet in it and pointed in the direction of Putin who might be in close range. There are precidences out there - some successful while others missed eg Hitler, a pope, fellow who shot Someone to start the 1st world war. There is always ‘one out there who is ‘mad’ enough to try the above.

The world has not seen Nuclear War since the US dropped two bombs on Japan. Why is that do you think? Despite the fact that there are thousands of them in existence worldwide, and compared to modern Nuclear weapons, the Japanese bombs were just firecrackers. They have not been used because of a doctrine known as MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction. Effectively this meant that if any Country used a nuclear weapon against another Country, it would generate a nuclear response that would annihilate the country that had fired the first one. MAD. No winners, and that's the reason why for all his Nuclear bluster, Medvedev will not presently push the button. But that has not stopped Putin waging war on the west, inc. Ireland, and back a few posts, some other posters have explained it very well how he is doing it. Putin has never stopped his war, just with Ukraine, its in a very active phase now.

Yes, many world leaders and dignitaries have been assassinated / injured by lone gunmen, and every single day in Russia people are murdered, its part of the scenery almost. Innocent bystanders are mown down, I've seen it myself. But Putin? The man with many doubles? Who does not or very rarely appears in public, or allows anyone near him unless they have been scrutinized from head to toe first and even then, cannot sit within 15' of him? And during any meeting, there's at least 2 snipers zeroed in on the visitor, if he made any sudden moves, he /she would be dead before they even knew it. All of the assassinations you mentioned took place in zero security situations (Hitler was the exception, but ironically that attempt came from a source Hitler trusted) Putin does not trust anyone. But it's something I (and millions of others) would love to see.

There's only one criminal gang in Russia, the one headed by Vladimir Putin. Nothing is done in any shape or form there unless he authorizes it, and that goes for all criminal activity too, either at home in Russia, or abroad. The war is our quarrel, and damn lucky we are to have Ukraine fighting it for us. Do you think that the Nigerian scams are still as widespread now as they once were? And don't forget, the Nigerian scams were criminal activity and on a relatively small scale, the Russian scams are state backed. So yes, we (and the rest of the civilized world) must isolate Russia every way possible, even diplomatically if that's a possibility. It's a state ruled by an indicted war criminal and is illegal to its core. The state is illegal, not because of the indictment, but how Putin took power in a sham election on the back of 300 dead Muscovites killed in the apartment block bombings that Putin ordered.

I would say if we don't join NATO in the near future we might end up without a say in the matter

Not one bit!

I think we should base our foreign policy off more than F yous. Putrid can’t win in Ukraine, China is occupied with Taiwan. Who realistically is in any position to invade us? Plus the orange nut job is ahead in the polls, who knows what that could bring. Being in nato didn’t do the Germans much good with their undersea pipes.

We should invest in a proper airforce, radars etc but I’ll be voting no if there’s ever a referendum for joining NATO.

oh not that nonsense again.

The author (Michael Fallon) is a disgraced drunk. He gets paid to push nonsense. And it comes out from an extreme-tory boys club right after NI gets a nationalist first minister. Its a poo fling by angry private school boys.

Agreed we should not be relying of the goodwill of others in times of crisis, without even making an effort ourselves.

And this is also why Ukraine has a legitimate expectation that it's own sons and daughters will comply with martial laws enacted in Feb 2022.

We’re specifically talking about Ireland being invaded, you didn’t have an answer to that I guess and now are pivoting. Not sure how Gaza getting pulverised has anything to do with this thread so no point discussing it.

Most likely scenario😂

Been used from Syria to Ukraine, luckily enough the Ukrainians have done a great job knocking them out

They're lacking on the anti-HIMARS capability